


Building Their World

by Wizzy



Category: Chrono Cross
Genre: Acacia Dragoons, Builder of Worlds, Dwarves, El Nido, F/M, Fairies, Hydra (Chrono Cross)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 03:44:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4904311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wizzy/pseuds/Wizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rydia always loved their world. Until meeting Darius, she'd thought it was impossible to be a part of it. Now she has the chance to become one of the biggest pieces of it, though doing so would require her to hide everything, even herself, from the entire world. She could never be with the one she truly loves. And must do everything she can to hide the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Protector Of The Hyrda

  “So, what creatures are up today?” I asked Darius, my “brother.” There wasn't any relation, but he was more family to me than anyone else ever was. He'd taken me in when my mother had kicked me out. I actually hadn't even known him until he'd offered to let me stay with him. Sure, staying with a total stranger wasn't a smart idea, but it was better than any other option I had at the time.

        “Let's see,” he thought. “Got a few Dodos and Dingos for Fossil Valley and the Wingapede for the Hydra Marsh.” As he named them off he handed the figured to me. Stuffing each of them into my bag, he added one more task to my list. “Oh and the Dwarves wanted to talk you.”

        “They can't need another Hydra already,” I said. “What could they want this time?”

        “Not a clue,” he laughed. “That's your job. And speaking of jobs, I'm about out of materials.” He didn't to say it, I knew he meant that I would have to work a couple days in the bar up in Termina to get what he needed to make the stuff to keep this world going.

        I should probably tell you that this place was once just a game. Through mine and Darius's many experiments, we managed to bring it into reality. But creating the world itself wasn't the end of it. It was their world, but they weren't in it. That was the hard part. Putting in the people without them knowing anything about us other than we live here.

        “I'll head up after Fossil Valley,” I sighed. Might as well get the Dwarves taken care of first if I'm gonna have to be up in Termina awhile.

 

        “Too many humans,” the Chieftain muttered. “One hunter from Arni keeps showing up. He hasn't gotten any of the Hydras yet. But those filthy soldiers keep walking in here and attacking us and the young ones we take to the other parts of the marsh.”

        “The Dragoons shouldn't be bothering you,” I insisted. “There's no reason for them to be down this far.”

        “They got one of the little ones just yesterday,” the Chieftain growled. “You built this world, do something.”

        “I'll talk to them,” I conceded. “But you know I may not be able to do much.”

        He accepted it and motioned for a pair of dwarves holding a large bag to come forward. “We didn't let them drag the little one off. This is every part of the Hydra that we could gather together for you. If you would be so kind, please bring us another when you visit us again.”

        “Of course.” I'd made a deal with the Dwarves. I would keep the Hydras from becoming extinct and they'd provide me with all the Hydra humour and bones and whatever else I could ever need. This, obviously, put us on very friendly terms. Darius even kept a few figures on hand just in case they needed one quickly. “How are the little guys doing?”

 

        By the time I'd made it up to Termina, it was almost nightfall. So I had no choice but to wait until morning to begin working.

 

        “Morning Rydia,” the barkeep called to me as I walked in.

        “Morning,” I called back. My job was to deal with the customers. Basically I was a waitress. Not exactly a great job, but it was easy and paid well enough to get what Darius and I needed. Selling Hydra parts paid for everything that my job couldn't.

        Between talking, I sang quietly to myself. Always the same song, and I never thought anyone ever heard me.

        “Glowing stars in the sky,” I sang quietly. “Watching me wander in the night.”

“Following me with their silent eyes as I call your name,” another voice sang along. Turning towards it a found one of the Dragoons. He was just a soldier, but I knew him fairly well. His name was Taro and he came here every time I was working here, and probably just about every other day too. When I didn't sing the next line, he spoke normally. “Keep singing, louder. Your voice is pretty.”

        “Walk with me in the silvery light,” I sang, picking up where we'd left off. Soon Taro was singing along. Not long after, others joined in and soon enough, everyone who knew even just part of the words had joined in.

        For the next few days, I'd sing for them as long as they asked me to. My job had suddenly gotten a thousand times better.

        On my last day in Termina, just as I was about to leave the bar, there was a lot of noise outside. I stepped out to find two Dragoons facing a familiar face with their swords drawn. A dwarf who just happened to a close friend of mine.

        He was unarmed, as he always was when he came up this far. It didn't happen often, only if it were an emergency.

        “Dwarf scum!” one of the Dragoons growled at him. The other prepared to swing, so I had to act quickly.

        Stepping between them I held my hand up to stop them. “No! Let him be,” I said calmly. “He's not even armed; he's not a threat.”

        “Lady Rydia,” the dwarf said, bowing slightly. “Your timing couldn't have been better.”

        “It's good to see you, Taurus,” I replied. “What's the problem?”

        “More of those Dragoon scum injured one of the young ones,” he explained. It was clear that he hated them. “The one with the strange eyes. She needs help.”

        “Silver?” He nodded. “We have to hurry.”

        Silver was a very unique Hydra. Her eyes were silver, rather than the green or brown that the others had. This was because of Darius's mistake in forming her. He's used the wrong colored materials and as a result, I'd become quite fond of her.

 

        After tending to Silver's wounds, the Chieftain complained yet again about the Dragoon soldiers.

        “I was heading up to the manor when you found me,” I calmly explained. “I will speak to them as soon as I can.”

        “Sir,” Taurus asked. “If Lady Rydia wishes, I will escort her as far as the gates.”

        “Very well,” the Chieftain sighed. “Just get the job done.”

 

        Once we'd made it to the gates, I sent Taurus home, solely for his protection. I was let inside the gates, but getting inside was another story. No matter how much I protested, they wouldn't let me in.

        “I need to speak to the General,” I insisted.

        “What do you want with him?” a voice behind me questioned. Turning, I found myself face to face with Karsh. In this world I knew him, though he had yet to meet me. By his side stood Lady Riddel.

        “Karsh,” she said. “Do not be so rude to a guest.”

        “Dragoons keep attacking my Hydras,” I sighed. “If they were full-grown it wouldn't be such a problem, but they've been attacking infants. Please, I have to sort this out. They can't be allowed to go extinct.”

        “Let her through,” the Lady demanded.

        After explaining everything to the General, the two of us quickly sorted the problem out. I made a deal with him; I provide them with Hydra parts and they leave them and the Dwarves alone. Sure, it meant less money for Darius and me, but it was worth it. They were all safe.

 

        As I headed back towards home, I decided to do just one more thing in Termina. Stopping for just a moment to buy some flowers, I headed over towards the bridge to the shrines. Every day just before I'd leave, I'd place flowers at the graves. Despite never having known any of them, I did it as a way of showing my respect.

        Today was already not going to be a normal day. It wasn't hard to tell. Never a dull moment, not for me.

        As I made my way across the bridge, I saw a little girl walking on the railing. Her mother stood nearby and called out to her. “Lilly, get down from there. You'll fall. You know you can't swim.”

        Before the girl had time to follow her mother's orders, she lost her footing and tumbled down into the water.

        The last thing I heard was her mother screaming before I dove in after the child. Of course, I'd forgotten that I couldn't swim either, but I had to try.


	2. Never A Dull Moment For Rydia

I dove deep down and quickly grabbed hold of her. As we headed for the surface, my leg caught on a net and pulled me back down. Desperately I threw her towards the shore and the surface. She could make it, even if I didn't.

        Even though it was pretty much hopeless, I attempting to untangle my leg from the net. Time was running out, and there was nothing I could do. Fate however, must have had other plans.

        Just as I was about to give up, a mysterious person appeared next to me. Pulling my leg free, they brought both of us to the surface.

        Once I'd stopped coughing up water and caught my breath, I could finally see my rescuer. He was the one I'd dreamed of meeting so many times, though I never really wanted to meet in in reality just so there was no risk of it ending badly.

        “I think that was the stupidest thing I've ever done,” I coughed.

        “If you call saving someone's life stupid,” Glenn shrugged. “I'd call it heroic.”

        “Those two words seem to go hand in hand,” I laughed a bit. “I'm no hero. You had to save my tail, after all.”

        “I was just in the right place at the right time,” he said, helping me up. “You always play the hero?”

        “Never a dull moment with me,” I sighed. “Keep her busy, keep her busy. No boring days for Rydia.”

        “Rydia, huh? Not the same Rydia that some of the Dragoons keep going on about?” he questioned.

        “Probably,” I admitted. Remembering how late it was, I started to head towards Termina's entrance. “I'd love to stick around, but I gotta be getting home.”

        With that I left him standing there without another word. My real job left no room for relationships of any kind, not even friendships. Well, with humans anyway. No one could know the truth. The truth being that they were figures made by Darius that I'd brought to life. That everything in this world was originally just a story from a game.

 

        Weeks passed by and the world was nearly finished. All that was left was Norris and a few Porre soldiers. Besides finishing up Gaea's Navel, anyway. After that it was just maintaining the peace throughout El Nido. I wish I could say I could then live a normal life, but truth was, I never would.

        Here I was, on an island just off the mainland, ready to bring to life the last piece of the world I so loved. On my arm was a small machine Darius had developed. It would only work for me, as it used some of my blood to function. I had no clue as to how it worked, I just knew it did. I placed Norris' figure on the round surface and pressed the button to activate the machine. A flash of white light and standing before me was the real, live, Norris.

        However, a problem was soon discovered. He had no clue who he was. Darius had forgotten what we called the Memory Chip. It was a small device about the size of a grain of rice that stored the memories and everything about a person that would be placed inside the figured as it was being made. Norris must have gotten skipped.

        After bringing to life the last of the Porre soldiers, I decided to speak with Norris. However, it did not go as planned. The other soldiers attacked before I could even get close.

 

        I managed to make it back to the mainland, docking the boat just outside Termina. My only injuries were a couple gunshots; one that just skimmed the left shoulder, one in the center of my upper leg, and another that just grazed my right side. It wasn't enough to kill me, just enough to make walking a lot of trouble.

        By the time I reached the north side of the valley, standing was near impossible. There was no time to stop, however, as it was almost sunset.

        “Damn Porre soldiers,” I mumbled to myself. I winced as I tried to stand again, but it was no use. All my energy had been used up between bringing the soldiers to life and walking this far. There was no way I could go any further on my own, not in the dark in Fossil Valley.

        Of course, luck remained on my side. Just as I collapsed a yet another time, two figures appeared nearby, heading up from the other end of the valley. Once they'd gotten closer, they were revealed to be Karsh and Marcy.

        Before they'd gotten too close, I managed to stuff the machine I'd been using into my bag.

        “You ok kid?” Karsh's voice asked.

        “Not really,” I admitted. “Mind giving me a bit of help?”

        “Your leg is, like, bleeding real bad,” Marcy observed.

        “Had a run-in with a Porre soldier on a island not far from Guldove,” I said, only half telling the truth. “I can't walk any farther. If you could just help me get to my home near Divine Dragon Falls, I'd appreciate it.”

        “You'll never get there in the dark,” Karsh argued. “We can take you up to the manor to get bandaged up and you can get back another day.”

        “You can't help me get through the valley?” I asked, thinking the situation through. Karsh just shook his head. Darius would worry, but getting home just wasn't really an option. “Viper manor, huh? Never thought I'd be counting on the Dragoons for help after all the trouble they've caused me.”

        Karsh helped me along and the three of us made it to the manor in a few hours. After waking up Luccia and getting my wounds treated, I stood in one of the halls.         Despite how tired I was, I had too much on my mind to sleep. Having rested a bit, I limped my way down the halls, not really paying attention to where I was or where I was going. By the time I was too tired to even stand up, I found myself in the main entrance room. Leaning against the wall, I slid down to the floor, propping up my arms on my knees.

        Next thing I knew, I was being awakened by a voice speaking to me.

        “Never a dull moment for Rydia,” it joked, echoing the words I'd once said. Glenn. It couldn't be anyone else. “Nearly drown yourself, disappear off the face of the earth and now here you are.”

        My eyes opened and I soon realized it was daylight. “I need to be going,” I stated, ignoring him. “Darius will be angry that I've been gone so long.” After a moment of thought, the situation with Norris came to mind. “And I have to fix the problems with Norris too.”

        As I struggled to my feet, I felt a stabbing pain through my leg. Walking on it had definitely been a stupid idea. After a nearly falling a few times, I'd managed to limp my way to the door.

        “You'll get yourself killed if you go out there on your own like that,” he warned. My back was to him, so I couldn't see that another had stepped up beside him until they spoke as well.

        “You're leaving so soon?” she asked. At the sound of her voice, I turned to see the Lady of the manor. “You're in no condition to be out on your own.”

        “Forgive me, Lady Riddel,” I said, bowing slightly. “I have much business to attend to right away. Darius will be quite upset if I'm gone any longer.”

        “I guess we cannot stop you,” she replied, maintaining her calm tone. “However, I must insist that one of the Dragoons escort you.”

        “I'll be fine on my own,” I said stubbornly. No one could be allowed to see the lab. We'd placed it behind the Divine Dragon Falls just for this reason. If anything fell into the wrong hands, it could very well destroy most of this world. “But, if you must, an escort may follow as far as Fossil Valley. No further.”

        “Glenn,” she said, motioning for him to go with me.

        “Not him,” I said a little too quickly. “Anyone but him.”

        “It's either him or you sit around until another is available.” Couldn't really counter that logic. He was right here, ready and able to go, while it'd take some time to find someone else.

 

        I gave in and allowed him to come along, preparing myself for a lot of questions.

        “So who's Darius? Your boyfriend?” Glenn asked,

        “Not even close,” I answered, slightly annoyed. “He's the closest thing I have to family. My real family never really wanted me, so he took me in. He's almost like- Hey! Don't do that!” Talking too freely with anyone could cause me to slip up and reveal the truth about this world. For me, Glenn had always been so easy to talk to, even if it were all just in my head. “There are things that you aren't supposed to know.” I hated to do it, but treating him like I hated him seemed like the best option for the time.

        He was quiet until we reached the north side of the valley. “What is your problem? First you're all friendly and then you act like you can't stand me.”

        “You're the problem,” I said, moving along the valley as we talked. “If you were in my place, you'd understand. Keeping a distance from everyone is the hardest part of what I do.”

        “You work in a bar,” he countered. “That isn't difficult at all.”

        “ I am busy keeping this world-” I had to stop myself before saying anything else. Luckily we were almost out of the valley. “Forget that. The thing in Termina is just a side job to take care of what Darius needs. Now, if you'll excuse me, this is where we part.”

        “I'm going as far as you're going,” he protested.

        “If you follow me any further I will use force if necessary,” I threatened. Would it work? Probably not.

However, he seemed to give in and started heading back the way we came. Continuing on, I kept feeling like something was following me all the way to the falls. By the time I reached them, Darius was outside arguing with Taurus.

        “She didn't come back last night,” Darius was saying. “If the Porre soldiers turned on her the moment she brought them to life-”

        “She will be fine,” Taurus interrupted. “No one would hurt her, she's too kind and, from the rumors around the human towns, she's gotten to be quite famous. She's alright.”

        “'She' is back,” I called out. Often when listening to others speak of me, occasionally I spoke in second or third person to let them know I was there and could very well hear them. Limping up to the them, their eyes shifting to something behind me.

        “Please don't tell me he followed me...” I groaned, not even needing to turn around.

        “You're on their side?” he questioned. There was no question as to who he meant. Porre.

        “We're not on anyone's side,” Darius explained calmly, gesturing for him to come into the lab. “If you could step inside, I can explain.”

        Taking the hint, I signaled for Taurus to block the other side of Glenn, indicating we were telling him rather than asking. “You can come in and never speak of this to anyone, or you can run and we can hunt you down. So, you gonna listen?”


	3. Tell Me When It's Over

“So you create us?” Glenn asked after Darius explained everything. “I'm... everyone here... we're just dolls?”

        “No. We built you and then brought you to life,” he corrected. “You're completely alive. We just providing the material to get you started. You are the one keeping you going.”

        “Everything about you is real,” I added. “Even your memories.”

        “We have limits,” Darius continued explaining. “We can only bring to life what is alive in one of the two alternate realities of your world. Or is so close that it is near identical to something alive.”

        “I guess that means you can't bring Dario to life.” Neither of us had really even considered that possibility.

        “No,” I lied. After shooting Darius a look, he understood. In one world, he survived, but had no memory. This had to be done just right to work, meaning Glenn couldn't know if we were to bring him to life.

        “If we could, we would,” Darius said.

 

        As Glenn was about to leave, Darius stopped him. “I have a favor to ask.”

        “I'll keep quiet about it,” Glenn said, but that wasn't what he wanted. I had no clue, so I said nothing.

        “I want you to assist Rydia when she has to bring things to life,” he said, causing me to glare at him. “I don't want her going out alone. Not after last time.”

        “I can handle myself!” I protested. Darius knew why I didn't want him around.

        “Why me?”

        “You're the only one we can trust.” He had a point. “The Hydra Marshes are no trouble, but everywhere else is just a danger zone now.”

        “If you're gonna help,” I said, very annoyed at this point, “meet me there tomorrow afternoon. If you're even a minute late, I'll go on without you.”

        He left without another word. Darius then introduced his latest project. He was a small creature that was identical to Pip, one of Luccia's experiments, except that he was dark gray with black markings instead of being white with red markings.

        He was intended to be my assistant, but now he was decided to function as a bodyguard. Xalo, we called him. I'd drawn him in my notebook along with every other person in this world for Darius to use as a reference when forming them. In the same book was some of my personal drawings. Each one depicted how I thought I'd look with so many of the people I knew of.

        That was one thing I didn't want anyone looking at. Sure, they were good and I was proud of them, but I didn't want anyone knowing how I really felt, or the life I really wanted.

 

        I reached the marshes early to activate Xalo. His memory had been set to know all about us and what we did, as well as the fact that his sole purpose in life was my protection.

        With Xalo on my shoulder, we wandered around and checked up on the Dwarves and the Hydras. Silver had made a full recovery and was bigger than me now.

        “Hey girl,” I greeted her and she returned it with a small nudge. “Yeah, I missed ya too.” When she noticed the creature on my shoulder, she tilted her head to the side. As if asking about him. “This is Xalo. Brother insisted I keep him with me.”

        The way we communicated was pretty strange, but it worked. Having known her since she was just barely an infant, we'd bonded and understood each other. A small growl from her indicated that something was headed this way, and chances were it wasn't something friendly. Some shouting from a couple dwarves confirmed Silver's suspicion.

        Xalo jumped off my shoulder and the three of us went to investigate. However, who was there was not what was expected.

        “He's with me,” I said before either of them had a chance to start a fight. “I didn't think you'd actually show up.”

        “Lady Riddel insisted I help,” he admitted, implying he hadn't planned on coming. “She seems to find you quite interesting.”

        “You're not supposed to say anything about that,” I warned. Silver backed me up with a low growl.

        “All she knows is that I was asked to help out,” he defended, taking a step back. “I didn't say why.”

        “Let's go then.” Silver growled at Glenn. “He's a friend.” Another, softer questioning growl. “Yes, the one I told you about.” With that all growling stopped and she just sniffed him. She walked around him and then back behind me. Next I knew, she pushed me forward onto him. Pushing myself away from him, I turned to her. “We talked about that. You know I can't....” I trailed off not wanting to give away too much.

        “You understand it?” Glenn said as we began walking towards what I liked to call the 'Wingapede launchpad.'

        “Her name is Silver,” I told him. “She's really a defect. Her eyes were made wrong and so the other Hydras aren't as accepting of her. So we kinda bonded.”

        “And you talk to her?” I nodded. “About me?”

        “I talk about everyone to her,” I said, covering for my slip-up moments before. “Everything that happens, she hears about. She's the closest thing I really have to a friend.”

        “So you told her about the girl who you saved?”

        “I've told her everything I could tell her,” I said, probably revealing too much. A small nudge from Silver told me we'd arrived. A single Beeba stood nearby, and after a few words, he called the Wingapede and handed us a special fruit to allow us to ride it to our destination.

        “We have to ride that thing?”

        “Scared?” I laughed. After patting Silver and climbing onto the flying creature, I held my hand out, offering to help him up. Silver couldn't ride the Wingapede, so she had to stay behind. “This is the only way to get to Gaea's Navel.”

        “You ride this thing before?”

        “Nope,” I laughed. When he hesitated, I added “He already knows where to go, we just have to hold on.”

        “Then I'm in front of you,” he stated. “I don't trust holding on to you. Besides, it's easier to catch you if you fall than it would be for you to catch me.”

        “Fine,” I conceded. Once again, he had a point. I shifted back, making enough space for him in front of me. Once he'd climbed up, all that was left was to signal for the Wingapede to take off.

        As we got higher up, the more it dawned on me how high off the ground I was. I wasn't afraid of heights, though I definitely didn't like being off the ground.

        “Scared?” he asked and I realized that I'd had a much tighter grip on him than before we took off. As I started to loosen my grip, I felt myself slipping. Instantly my grip tightened again.

        “Just tell me when it's over.” My eyes closed and I didn't say another thing until I felt his hand touch mine and his voice telling me we were there.

        Once I'd gotten down and calmed my nerves, it was time to get to work. I attached Darius's machine to my arm and gave it a moment to activate itself. I was the only who could use it, as it required some of my blood to start up. After that it just used my own energy to keep going. Meaning I was solely responsible for keeping this world running, for the time being anyway.

        “This is where you're needed.” Glenn just nodded and I proceeded to explain what was about to happen. “Activating these creatures uses my own energy; meaning I get weaker as I do more. Depending on what it is I'm activating, I can do a few at a time. They'll be stunned awhile afterward, so they won't remember it. Of course, all that we have today are a few monsters.”

        “So I'm here to make sure they don't attack you?”

        “And to help me if I'm too weak to move afterward,” I added as I placed three figures in their places. Now it was time to get this done and over with.


	4. You Again?

A week went by with little happening. Glenn had accompanied me nearly every day to bring to life a few monsters in various places while Darius was still working on a solution for Norris' memory problem.

        Today he'd finally figured out how to do it. Problem was it would take awhile to prepare. So while he would be busy, I headed up to Termina.

        Not having been here in so long, there was one task that I felt I should do: visit the graves of those who'd once lived here. After a moment of thought, flowers for the graves seemed appropriate. Thinking a bit more, Bellflowers seemed right.

        After having placed the flowers on all but one of the graves, I heard someone walking this way. It was a voice, a woman's voice speaking to someone else.

        I paid no attention to what the two were saying and placed the last flower on the last grave that remained, Dario's. Walking away from his grave, I could still hear the woman and whoever she was speaking to and I still ignored them. However, the word  _bellflowers_  got my attention and forced me to look at the two speaking.

        It wasn't hard to recognize them. Though having known them and having spent the week with one of the two, I didn't want to see or speak to either of them. Keeping my back to them, I started to walk away. Of course when Glenn noticed the flowers, he'd have known who'd put them there. Who else could have done it?

        “You should-” Riddel started to say. My guess was she noticed what I'd done. “Who put these here?”

        “You did it, didn't you?” Looking at him wasn't necessary to know who the words were intended for. “You didn't know him. So why?”

        I stayed quiet with my back to them. No doubt they were watching me now.

        “I know you hear me,” he said when no one spoke.

        “The same reason I do everything I do in this world,” I answered after having thought it out carefully. It wasn't much of an answer, but it was the truth.

        As I started to walk away again, I added, “I'd like to think that if I'd known him, he'd have been like a brother to me.”

        “Come to the manor later,” Riddel's voice called out before I had a chance to take another step. “I would like the chance to speak with you.”

        Stopping and thinking a moment, an idea came to me. “If I do, could you arrange for me to meet with someone?” I asked, not wanting to give away much.

        “Of course.”

 

        Meeting with her later, I had to ask one thing before letting her ask or say anything. “Can I trust you?”

        “What?”

        “Can I trust you?” I repeated. “There are things I am going to say that no one is to know.”

        “I will not speak a word.”

        I told her all about the work I did and how things had to be taken care of by me. Also there was one thing I told her that I hadn't mentioned to anyone but Silver: I could never live my life the way I wished it to be, because I couldn't let myself get close to anyone to protect them.

 

        “For someone who isn't to show her feelings, you slip up a lot,” she told me as I got up to leave. “Let the real you show from time to time. The real Rydia is quite fun.”

        “There's one thing I want to know,” I said, ignoring what she said. “Do you still feel the same way about Dario as you did before he...” I didn't want to say  _died_ , but there just wasn't any word that wouldn't give away the fact that I was planning on bringing him to this world. It was the reason I wanted to talk to Karsh without any of the others around. But no one could know that just yet.

        “Would you ask if you didn't already know?”

        I got the point. It wasn't hard to tell, I had just wanted some sort of confirmation before I set about bringing him back. “Then if you would,” I asked, “I need to speak with Karsh, alone. Could you arrange that?”

        “Of course.”

 

        “You again?” Karsh grumbled.

        “Lose the attitude or I'll tell everyone what really happened on the Isle.” Threatening someone stronger than me? Terrible idea. Did it work? You bet.

        “What do you want?”

        “I want your help with an important task,” I said, not giving away anything just yet.

        “Are you askin' or blackmailing me into helping?” Sure, he had good reason to be suspicious, but it was still irritating.

        “It's a way for you to correct what happened on the Isle of the Damned,” I offered.

        “He couldn't be...”

        “There's a way,” I said, choosing my next words carefully. “There's a way that he could still be alive. There's just one problem: he won't have any memory of who he is. That's why I need you.”

        Karsh thought it over a moment while walking across his room. There were probably a million thoughts racing through his mind. Mine certainly had that many.

        “Why me?” he asked, sounding slightly suspicious of my plan. “Glenn would know him better. He's been wandering off so much lately any way. Why don't ya ask him?”

        “Glenn can't know anything about this,” I said flatly. “If he knew that Dario could be alive, he wouldn't give up until he found him. It'll take more than I can do on my own and Glenn would be no help.” I stopped a moment before continuing. “You're the only one who can help,” I sighed, looking down at the floor. “You know the one thing the others don't.”

        No one said anything. The two of us just watched each other as Karsh thought it over.

        “Think it over,” I said after awhile. “If you decide to assist me, then meet with me near the Hydra Marshes in two days. Should the Dwarves question you, say that Lady Rydia sent you and ask for Taurus. He will take care of everything.”

        “ _Lady_ Rydia?”

        “It is what the Dwarves call me,” I explained as I turned to the door. “It's their way of showing their respect for me and everything I do for them and the Hydras.” Stepping towards the door, one more thing needed to be said. “Karsh, I... I wasn't really going to say anything about... you know... to anyone. I... I just wanted to know you'd listen.” With that, I left the manor before he had a chance to say anything.

        I'd started to slip back into my real self; which I couldn't do. Karsh had been one of the people I had been fond of, making it all too easy to slip up. For now, there had to be a certain level of distance between me and Karsh, as well as everyone else.

        I couldn't let them in, despite how much I wanted to. They couldn't know me. No could ever know the sweet girl that wanted nothing more than to be a part of this world,  _their_  world.


	5. It's Time

 In the weeks that passed, Karsh assisted me in helping Dario to retrieve his memories.

        “Rydia?” Dario asked. “Why are you trying so hard to help me? Did you know me?”

        The question was very sudden and to be honest, very unexpected. I wasn't even sure how to answer. “I always wished I could have known you,” I said at last.         “Everyone needs you. I guess that's why I have to help you.” I'd slipped up so often during these meetings with Dario and Karsh that it didn't matter if the real me showed or I pretended.

        After an hour of trying to bring back his memories, we'd finally succeeded. Weeks of working at it and we'd finally gotten through.

        “It's time.” Time for Dario to return to Viper Manor. We'd discussed this several times before. Karsh would go with Dario back to the manor, explaining what had happened since the Isle of the Damned, while I returned home. After all, how could I face Glenn and Riddel after this? I'd actually told Glenn it couldn't be done. And as for Riddel, she'd be upset that I hadn't told her.

        Dario, of course, had no clue about this. The only thing he'd known about them was that it was best for them not to see him until his memory had returned.

        But since Fate likes to be a major pain in the rear, Dario insisted I come with them to the manor. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't say no. It'd been a weakness of mine before I'd come here, and it still secretly was.

 

        Once arriving at the manor, we were met by many reactions. Everything from shock, joy, surprise, to tears. Well, Dario was anyway.

        Riddel couldn't believe it was real. Glenn had a much different reaction.

        “You lied to me,” he said angrily. “You said it couldn't be done. Then you went and did it behind my back! Didn't you even consider that I would have wanted to know? Of all people, I never thought you'd do something so low.”

        I flinched at his words. Feeling tears starting to fight their way through, I forced them back and looked to Glenn.  _Not here, not in front of them._  “Don't worry,” I started, forming my next plan. “After this, chances are you'll never see me again.” As much as it hurt, this was a promise that was going to be kept. Moving the lab seemed like a pretty good idea anyway.

        “Rydia-” Dario started to say, but I was already out the door. I was gone before anyone had a chance to follow me.

 

        Once reaching the lab, Darius informed me that he'd finally completed what I needed to give Norris is memory. With Dario, it had just been amnesia, which was present in him in one of the two realities. But with Norris, things were a lot more difficult. He didn't lose his memory; he didn't have it to begin with.

        After taking the small vial of a liquid that my “brother” claimed would give Norris his memories, I arranged for him to meet with me on the Sky Dragon Isle.

        “You can help bring back my memories?” he asked when I met with him. This time he'd come alone, as requested. Xalo accompanied me as he always did. He never spoke a word and I honestly didn't notice him most of time.

        “Drink this and your memory should be restored,” I said, handing it over. “If it fails, I'll have to ask you to come back to my lab to find another solution.”

        Luckily it worked. Norris thanked me for my help and we both went back to where we were supposed to be.

        After stopping at the lab to grab a few things and stuffing them in a bag, I left Xalo at the lab and headed to where I knew I wouldn't be bothered.  The only place where I could truly be me, now that my job was done. My new home, the Hydra Marshes.


	6. Not What I Expected

Two months passed and no one had bothered me. My home was a small cave deep in the marsh. There was little space, but it was enough. Being on my own, however, required that I have some sort of weapon. Of course, it was more to protect the Dwarves and Hydras than it was for me.

I was free at last. Free to be me. Of course, the only one who ever saw me already knew the real me.

“This really didn't turn out like I had hoped,” I said to Silver, my Hydra.

_You miss them, don't you?_

“Do you even have to ask that?”

_Go back then._

“I don't want to see them.”

_Hurts too much?_

“You know how I feel about all of them. I showed you the book.” My notebook. In it was a large number of pages I'd drawn long ago when this world was just beginning. Pages that showed the people of this world with me.

_Someone's in the marsh. Smells like a Dragoon._

By cutting off my connections to Viper Manor, I'd pretty much released them from our agreement about the Hydra. There were few incidents until now.

Unsheathing my sword, I headed up to investigate. Silver was never wrong about these things.

“Get out,” I said coldly once I'd met up with the Dragoon. Normally I'd leave it to the Dwarves, but this was the second time this week. Time for me to step in. “Leave now or I'll be forced to kill you.”

After he'd ran off, Taurus asked that I deal with them once again, as I had months before.

“Looks like I'll have to deal with them again,” I mumbled, throwing a few supplies, as well as my notebook, in my bag and heading out. Sure, it wasn't a long journey, but there was always a chance something could go wrong.

 

I reached the manor in no time. Getting in, however, was difficult because no one recognized me. I dressed differently and my hair was pulled back into one long braid now. It used to just hang loose and natural. Before, I'd dressed like everyone else in El Nido, but now I dressed more as a warrior would.

Eventually I forced my way up to General Viper. I had one thing to say. “You and your Dragoons better stay the hell outta my marsh. The next Dragoon to go there won't be coming back,” I threatened. “And I don't care who it is.”

 

After saying what I had to say, I headed out. Before reaching the doors, an attack came from behind me. Training with the Dwarves helped me to move quick enough to block it with my sword. At that point, my attacker recognized me. “Rydia?”

Before I could answer, Karsh picked up something I'd dropped while blocking my attacker. My notebook.

“What's this?” Panic surged through me.

“Give it back!” I shouted desperately, attacking him. I knew I didn't stand a chance, but I couldn't just let him take it.

As I struggled to get it back, Glenn, Riddel and the other three Devas showed up. Eventually I was to the point I was so worn out that I could hardly breathe. “Give... it... back...” I begged, trying to catch my breath.

“That page is marked,” Riddel pointed out.

“Karsh, give it back,” I asked again. I knew I had no hope of taking it from him, but I had to try. “Please...”

“Open it,” Zoah said as he and the others gathered around.

“Everything before the marker is the sketches I'd done to help Darius to build everything here,” I sighed. They had finally forced me to give in. “The ones after it are things I once wished for. My hopes, dreams, whatever you want to call them. Just... remember I did them before I'd gotten to know any of you.”

Karsh opened to the page that was marked. “Who is that?”

“Korcha, a boy from Guldove. Turn to the next one.”

Karsh did, and, as expected, everyone was quite surprised. Dario and Riddel's wedding. Or at least how I imagined it should be.

“I'd always hoped that I could reunite the two of you,” I said, looking over the page. “It's not often that two people go together so perfectly. You never should have been separated.”

For every page I explained who was there. Every page had me with one or more others. First the Dwarves and a Hydra. Training with Dario. General Viper. Riddel. Marcy. Zoah. All the Devas. Norris. Grobyc and some Porre soldiers. The people of Arni. Everyone from Guldove. The Fairies on Water Dragon Isle. Starky and his ship. The people of Termina. Singing and dancing with Nikki and Miki. Karsh. Zappa and Zippa. Marbule.

Finally we'd gotten close to the end.

“Hey, that's Xalo,” Glenn pointed out.

“I created him,” I explained. Now I was going to end their fun. I didn't want them to see the last drawing.

“I thought he had to be from this world,” Karsh questioned. Of course, I'd never directly said that.

“Look.” I pointed to his companion. “That is Pip. They are identical in almost every way. The only difference: their colors and memories. Pip couldn't really be the only one of his kind.”

Just as Karsh lifted his hand to turn the page, I sprang forward and snatched it out of his hands while running to the door.

“Everyone has a secret they won't share,” I said, heading through the door. “Let this one be mine.”

As I walked away, I thought I heard someone say one last thing. “Everyone but Glenn was in there.”

Truth was, he was in it. The notebook was taken away before they could see. He was the last drawing.


	7. Because I Love All Of You

I didn't stop until I reached the valley, and even then it was only to rest a moment. As I started to move on, I heard footsteps behind me. Moving on, I kept my hand on my sword, ready to fight if necessary. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed mine, pulling it away from the sword and turning me around.

“Why us?” Karsh asked, still holding onto me. “If what you said is true, you could have chosen any other world. But, you chose us.”

“Is that the reason you followed me?” I asked, pulling my hand from his. When he didn't respond right away, I turned away and added, “If that is all you came for, then you might as well leave.”

Instead of leaving, arms wrapped around me and turned me back towards him and pulled me to him. “What-” I stopped when his hand tilted my face upward and his lips pressing against mine. At first, I went with it, until I started thinking and realized what was happening.

I pulled myself away quickly. “Karsh, I... you know I can't...”

“Your job is over,” he said calmly. “It's time for you to live  _your_  life. Stop worrying so much about us.”

“If anyone finds out about what I do, it could put you and everyone else in danger.”

“You told me once that you gave us what we needed to get started; that  _we_  were the ones keeping ourselves going,” he told me. “This world is the same. We needed you to get it going, but now it's up to us to keep it going.”

“If you knew all the things that were intentionally left out of this world, you'd think differently.” I thought about all I knew. Lynx had been left out of this world, as well as the entire Sea of Eden. Sure, it existed in memory and the wall around its location was still there, but it was just an empty sea. That had been where that Dragoons had met their deaths in one of the worlds. It'd been heartbreaking seeing that fate and I'd sworn to never let it happen. “You were dead, you and the Dragoons, in one of the two worlds that I merged. I won't let it happen. I have to watch over this world.”

“No,” Karsh said, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “This is as much your world as it is ours. It ain't your responsibility to watch over it anymore. You don't have to protect us. I want you to be  _you,_ not this new Rydia who lives like a hermit. Let's make your drawings reality.” Had he seen the last drawing, I doubt he'd have said that.

For a moment, it was completely silent as I thought it out. Then his question from earlier came to mind. “You asked me why I chose you,” I said, carefully thinking out my next words. “It's simple: I chose you because I love you. Every one of you. Sure, some of you I loved more than others or in a different way, but I loved you. I loved you just for being you and for the way I felt because of you.”

“If you really care that much, then why can't you give us a chance?” As much as I hated to admit it, he had a very good point.

“I'm afraid to,” I said, forcing myself to look away as my emotions started to get the best of me. “I've always been too afraid to let anyone in.”

“Don't be.”

Two words. Just two ordinary words. But to me, they had more power than every other word he'd said to change my mind.

“Come back to the manor with me,” he offered, pulling me close to him again. Once more, we kissed, and this time, I didn't pull away.


	8. What Did I Do?

It was different being able to be me again.

Since our lab wasn't really needed much anymore, Darius moved into Viper Manor to work alongside Luccia in her lab. I was happy for him; that had been something he'd wanted to do when he'd first come here.

I spent most of my time up in Termina. There I worked in the bar and met many new people, though the ones I looked forward to seeing the most were the people I already knew.

Of course, the one person I wanted to see more than anyone else was the one I'd seen the least.

It felt he was avoiding me. Every place I went where I figured he'd be, he left just moments before.

 

“I don't get it,” I said to my hydra. Every so often I'd visit Silver, mainly to talk to her about things that I could talk about with the others. “It's like he's avoiding me lately. The one person I'd wanted to get to know the most is the one that avoids me.”

As a response, Silver nudged my bag. I pulled out the notebook and flipped through the pages until I hear a low growl from my hydra companion, signaling for me to stop. This was the page that showed the picture I'd drawn of me and Karsh.

“You think it has something to do with Karsh?” Now that I thought about it, Glenn had started avoiding me around the time that Karsh and I had gotten together. But why? Last I knew, Glenn was still pissed off about me lying to him about Dario.

_He saw._

“If he saw us, that still wouldn't be a reason to avoid me.”

_Jealous?_

“He could have been jealous... Wait, what am I thinking?! That's crazy!”

_Not as crazy as you understanding me._

Silver always seemed to understand everything faster than I did. But I wasn't totally sure where she was getting the idea that Glenn was jealous. I just sighed and made my way towards the entrance to the marsh.

“I just wish I knew why he-” Seeing something on the path ahead of me, I stopped. Standing there a few feet in front of me was Glenn.

“Miss Riddel asked me to come find you,” he said, looking off to the side rather than directly at me. “She said she wanted to talk with you about some things. And for you to bring your book that had all those drawings in it.”

“I'll head up there now. Glenn, would you-”

“No.” Such a small word had never hurt so much in my life. I was just going to ask if he wanted to walk with me.

As he turned and began to walk away, I rushed forward and grabbed his arm to stop him. “What has gotten into you? What did I ever do to you?” In an effort to help, Silver moved in front of him, blocking his path. “If there's anything I did that upset you, tell me. If hurt you in any way, I'm sorry.”

He pulled his arm free and turned his head in my direction. “I don't want to talk to you.” He took a couple steps forward and patted Silver's head. “Silver, will you let me through?”

When she let him past her, I felt like I'd been betrayed. “Glenn!” I shouted after him, starting to follow. Silver just stopped me. As much as it hurt, I knew it was probably for the better.

_Just let him have his space. He'll come around._

“I hope you're right, Silver.”


	9. How Did You Meet Him?

 Later on, I learned that Riddel had wanted to talk with me about her and Dario's wedding. I'd drawn her wedding as I'd thought it would be, and that was the way she wanted to make it. So here I was, helping her in any way possible to prepare for the big event.

“You know, you look so different than your brother. And you get along even better than Dario and Glenn did as kids,” She said looking through some of my drawings. She'd started from the very first page and was slowly going through each and every one.

“That's probably because he's not really my brother.” She look up at me with a slightly confused look on her face. To her it probably made no sense. “He's just more like family to me than anyone else ever was.”

“What about your real family?” Her voice was filled with concern. Before I could answer, Dario and Karsh had joined us in the room.

“They... well... we didn't get along,” I explained, unsure how to really put it. Whatever I said, it wasn't going to sound very good. “Darius just kinda took me in when I had nowhere else to go.”

A few others soon joined us in the room. Zoah, Marcy, Luccia, Darius and even Glenn stood there, listening politely and asking questions about my past life. “I don't see how you couldn't get along with anyone.” Dario paused a moment before saying his next words. “As long as you were trying to get along with them.”

“Well, even when I tried, it just didn't work out. I hate to say it, but you guys caused some problems along with a lot of other things.”

“How did we cause you problems when we didn't even know you?”

I couldn't help but smile at that. They had once been just story inside of a video game I used to play all the time. Most of the time, I'd shut out the entire world just to spend a moment in theirs. Of course, my mother did not approve of that at all. “That's... not really important... I just kinda spent more time in the dream world than the real one. Eventually my mother just snapped and... well... I left.”

“You know you could just say that she kicked you out,” Darius pointed out, saying what I'd hoped to not tell them. “That is what happened. The way you say it, makes it sound like you chose to leave.”

“So you went to Darius after that?” Riddel asked. She'd stopped flipping through the pages of my notebook. It was sitting in from of her, opened to the page that showed my drawing of her wedding.

“To be honest, I hadn't even met him yet.” I smiled a little remembering how we'd met. Sure, it had sucked at the time, but now it was a happy memory of mine.

“So how did you meet him?” When Glenn's voice asked, I was a bit shocked. The fact that he'd even cared enough to ask made me laugh. “What's so funny?”

“Go easy on her,” Darius said when Glenn's second question came out a bit rudely. “The fact that she can laugh about it now just shows how strong she really is.”

“It was pretty rough for me at the time, but if it hadn't happened, I'd never have gotten to be with the people I loved the most.”

“Hey Rydia, how about you tell them the whole story? Maybe then they'll understand better.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rydia tells the story of how she met Darius.

I remember it well. Me and mom had had another of our arguments. To be honest, it didn't even matter what we fought about anymore. All that had matter at the time was that she'd gotten so sick of it all that she kicked me out.

There hadn't been anywhere that I could have gone. I'd always been too busy with my games and drawing to even make a single friend and I didn't have any family anywhere nearby. So that left me all alone. So here I was, alone in the rain with nothing but my backpack that had a few things that were important to me.

I leaned against the side of a brick building, just letting the falling rain hit me. There wasn't any shelter around and I was too cold to wander around searching for something. So I faced the cold rain, shivering in my soaked clothes.

It felt like forever before anyone passed by and even then, no one paid any attention to me. Maybe I would get sick and die out here. Maybe I had really wanted to die. It's not like I had any who was waiting for me to come home; no one was worrying about me.

“Hey, are you alright?” a kind voice asked. It took me a moment to realize that the person was talking to me. “You lost? Or... something?”

I just looked up at this stranger, unable to believe that anyone would be talking to me. He looked like about college age, making him a few years older than me. “What's your name?” he asked when I still didn't speak.

“I... I'm Rydia.”

“My name's Darius.” With a smile, he extended his hand towards me. He reminded me of Dario, except he was less of the warrior knight type and more of the nerd type. Maybe that was why I felt I could trust this complete stranger. “I live nearby. What do you say we get out of this rain?”

I have to admit, following a strange guy to his apartment was probably an extremely stupid idea. But being soaking in wet and having nowhere else to go, I didn't have much of a choice. Lucky for me, he turned out to be just a nice guy rather than some creepy pervert.

“Stay right here a moment,” he said once we were inside, before he wandered off into another room. While he was gone, I set my bag on the floor and glanced around. It seemed fairly normal for a guy's apartment.

“You're a new face. You one of Darius's friends?” another male's voice said, pulling my attention to the male leaning against the doorway on the other side of the room. When I hesitated, he just laughed. My guess was he's his roommate. “I'm just messing with you. Darius don't have friends. Well, just a few guys he plays online games with, but I don't think those would count. So what's your story?”

I wasn't sure what to think of this. Luckily I was saved from having to answer that question. Darius had come back into the room. “Let the girl be,” he scolded his roommate before handing me some clothes in his hand. “Here. They might be kinda big for you, but it's better than what you've got on.”

As I was changing, I heard brief little parts of the conversation that the two had. There was little that was important, other than the other guy's name was Alex. When I started to head back out, I managed to hear something that seemed to be quite important.

“You know your girlfriend is going to be pissed that you brought some girl home with you,” one of them was saying, I assumed it was Alex. “Not only that, she's young. You realize how creepy that looks?”

“It's nothing like that!” As Darius argued with his roommate, I slipped past them into another room. I didn't like arguing. It made my chest get this awful fluttery feeling; I didn't really know what it meant, but I knew it was bad. “She was helpless! I couldn't just leave her out there in the rain with nowhere to go!”

The arguing continued and I just looked around the room I'd escaped to. In the middle was a table with some oddball things scattered about. The desk along the wall had papers scattered all over it. Looking closer, they were drawings.

When I realized what the drawings were of, I wasn't sure how to react. I knew these characters; they were the ones that had been the closest thing I had to friends. Scanning through them, I noticed that one person was missing. The scribbled out page on the floor must have been him.

Spotting a blank piece of paper and a pencil, I set about drawing Glenn. I had to draw from memory, but he was permanently a part of mine, so it was fairly easy. While I worked, I lost the world around me. All that mattered at this moment was Glenn.


End file.
